Well must admit I was a bit apprehensive especially with summer rubber on it but even 3-4 inches of snow in a dip and I couldn't get stuck!!! I know winter tyres will make it even better but piece of mind I should be fine with the usual worst we see round my neck of the woods!

Went out this morning and thought will I take my 10 year old Hyundai on winter tyres or try the xdrive. Decided on the 320 and alright it was flat and not too deep but it would have been enough to been difficult in my previous 3 or Z4

Well must admit I was a bit apprehensive especially with summer rubber on it but even 3-4 inches of snow in a dip and I couldn't get stuck!!! I know winter tyres will make it even better but piece of mind I should be fine with the usual worst we see round my neck of the woods!

Happy days!!!

She's going to need a hellva bath once the snow goes like!!!

Good to here Andy glad it's still doing a good job and if it manages here heathrow should get a few to save cancelling flights for 3mm of snow

I was surprised, I honestly thought as its a but more powerful than the previous X3 it might struggle but was fine! Can't believe how quickly it's gone today though, snow not hanging around this time!!

I was surprised, I honestly thought as its a but more powerful than the previous X3 it might struggle but was fine! Can't believe how quickly it's gone today though, snow not hanging around this time!!

Aye all gone up in the Broch good news when you have an e90 330d but then again fun in the Cooper S

Talking of X3s a neighbour has a new one and very nice it is too. However, comes with the dreaded 'summer' tyres and he described it as like 'Bambi on ice'. I think it's been parked up on our road almost as long as my F31.

I got stuck on the carpark at the motor heritage centre, dead level and flat. Selected reverse and the rear wheels just spun. So slippery that I could take my foot off the accelerator and the wheels were still rotating slowly. Never seen anything like it.

Eventually got it free and spotted an F30 xDrive also EBII M Sport parked right at the road side in a disabled spot, lol

Talking of X3s a neighbour has a new one and very nice it is too. However, comes with the dreaded 'summer' tyres and he described it as like 'Bambi on ice'. I think it's been parked up on our road almost as long as my F31.

I'm a bit surprised at that Rich. We had summers on our X3 for 3 years and even living in the NE of Scotland I never had any problems, including reversing it out of around 10inches of snow a few New Years ago in Ballater!

Took an Xdrive for a test drive yesterday. Thought it was great. Found a car park in the North Downs that still had 6" of virgin snow in it. So I spent the next five minutes driving round and round in it going faster and faster, it was great fun, very inspiring never lost traction.

Can't wait to order mine sometime in February (F31), should be delivered sometime in June, so the dealer tells me.

I'm a bit surprised at that Rich. We had summers on our X3 for 3 years and even living in the NE of Scotland I never had any problems, including reversing it out of around 10inches of snow a few New Years ago in Ballater!

In my experience fresh snow is rarely a problem, it's compacted snow which has been driven on that causes problems as it's like ice.

In my experience fresh snow is rarely a problem, it's compacted snow which has been driven on that causes problems as it's like ice.

In my experience there is snow and there is "impossible snow", plus everything in between. On some snow a summer tyred car isn't going anywhere without drama, whatever you try and do with it, seen it so many times up here.

It is why I don't take much notice of some of the reports that everything is fine on snow with RWD and summer tyres. OK, on some snow types, driving is possible, but that is not the complete picture. On some snow it is impossible. Hence, IMO, why there are so many contradicting reports for the same car models.

As you mention, the 'polished' snow gets very slippy, often dependent on temperature. And there is a kind of slush we often get over this side of the highlands, (thankfully not too often as it's lethal), again most cars just can't get going at all. It is often on a cold base but due to a 'half' melt it is so slippy it's just impossible to get any traction or braking, on anything but decent winter tyres.

I've known the slushy stuff to mess up the car's electronics. My brother in law's Jaguar even switched down and wouldn't allow a further engine start due to it, had to be recovered to Jaguar. Definitely put down to messing up the traction control system.

So glad someone has posted this - i've ordered a 320i xDrive M Sport to replace my A3 2.0TDI S Line Quattro Black Edition, which has been excellent in poor weather so i'm hoping the xDrive will be as competent.

My main hope though is that I haven't made a mistake moving quickly and getting the 320i rather than waiting for the 320d. Would be interested to know what average ecomomy is being achieved. I do probably 8,000 personal miles per year so reckoned on the petrol costing up to £300 extra per year fuel and tax. For a £2,200 price difference I didn't think it'd be worth it.

The two negatives i'd read about 3 series (almost all fleet based 320d reviews) are about the manual gearbox and rattly engine - so going for the petrol and auto box seemed to address these! Just hoping when I re-learn the petrol engine I can access the power ok!

The 320d is probably the default choice for many people but given your mileage the petrol seems to make sense. Haven't driven a 320i recently but expect it has a lot less torque than the 320d which may be an issue as you are coming from a diesel.

There is of course a price saving with the petrol although to counter that I would expect the 320d to retain all of the difference and perhaps more come resale time.

Torque is 380N vs 270N but 320d has a 1,000rev band and 320i has 3250rev band. I just remember going from my last 2 litre petrol to the 2 litre diesel and it taking some time to get used to where the power was so expect will be same in reverse. Do kind of miss the free revving nature of a petrol although i've loved the diesel. I expect the petrol will retain it's value as the diesel is more of a no brainer for company drivers with the low BIK but for private / second hand sale petrol demand seems strong, especially with the number of petrol die hards.

So long as the F30/31 320i petrol engine is better than the E90 version ...... it had a lot of common faults that after reading most people would buy the diesel.

The N/A 320i was free revving and pretty smooth but it lacked torque. My dealer says he expects the 320i resale values to be in line with the E9X, demand is low compared to 320d which in turn is reflected in the resale value.

The N/A 320i was free revving and pretty smooth but it lacked torque. My dealer says he expects the 320i resale values to be in line with the E9X, demand is low compared to 320d which in turn is reflected in the resale value.

But on a PCP deal you already have an MGFV so you know what the lowest you can get is and mine is about £1,000 less than the diesel would have been. Plus I got far lower monthly payments as I argued that to do a deal I wanted the fuel difference back.

I've heard that the new twinpower engines have far better torque (level and distribution) than the previous version (but am not sure if this is the first outing for this version of the 2.0i).

But on a PCP deal you already have an MGFV so you know what the lowest you can get is and mine is about £1,000 less than the diesel would have been. Plus I got far lower monthly payments as I argued that to do a deal I wanted the fuel difference back.

I've heard that the new twinpower engines have far better torque (level and distribution) than the previous version (but am not sure if this is the first outing for this version of the 2.0i).

Hi everyone, I'm new to the forum but after reading various opinions from UK and US i thought sharing my experience with the f30 320i xdrive m sport can help those who considering getting one.
Regarding the engine like some others I was a bit concerned but only until I drove it. I traded in my 2011 e90 325d m sport with only 11000 miles on the clock for this car and I don't regret my decision. Obviously the 6cylinder diesel in my e90 was brilliant with tons of torque but this new 4cylinder engine with turbo is definitely a different league to the previous 320i. Yes it has a bit less torque at low rev than the 320d which I also driven but still pulls very nicely and it's so quite. Mine has the 8 speed sport auto gearbox which which makes it even nicer drive. The 4cylinder diesel is a great engine but personally I did find it bit rattling and noisy specially after coming from a 6cylinder diesel. I collected mine on a Monday early January and by Friday the snow came so it had the opportunity to prove itself and I have to say despite the summer tyres it still worked brilliantly. I was able to drive easily unlike in my e90 previously. The 320ix is a very refined car and this engine is more than enough for most people. Of course if money isn't an issue go for a nice 6cyl. petrol or diesel just for the fun(or sound)of it but hardly ever gonna be able to use that extra power. I always preferred big petrol or diesel engines but this 320ix is a great car indeed and a very smooth drive and having awd makes me feel a lot better as my wife drives it most of the time with my daughter at the back. It's a good time to get one of these as bmw trying to introduce to uk market I managed to get mine as a pre-reg with 10 miles on the clock with professional nav., sport auto, sun protection glass, folding mirrors,heated leather with 10k off the list price which made it impossible to resist. If you want want one just go for it you will like it!